Low voter turnout is often an issue that is brought up to criticize
elections. If only a minority of the population votes, and a
minority of the voters determine the winner, then officials can be
elected with only a small percentage of the population supporting
them.

Run-off elections fare even worse. In many city and local
elections a winner can only be declared when one candidate receives a
majority. If the general election fails to produce a majority
winner, then a run-off must be held. These subsequent elections
historically have had extremely low turnout, with most voters not
participating and thus further undermining the legitimacy of the
election.

IRV
is a way to change this trend. It completely eliminates the
need for subsequent run-off elections by allowing voters to rank
candidates by preference. This was used with great success in the
recent San Francisco city elections. Run-offs previously garnered
sporadic participation and added much to the cost of city
elections. Statistically, turnout jumped by over 300% with the
introduction of IRV.